‘soup box’ winter offer for 10 euro
We are introducing a new veg box for winter produce, with the aim of keeping cost down, whilst still providing wholesome core winter veg to supply a family.
Contents:
Potatoes
Carrots
Onions
Parsnip
Leek
Celery or celeriac
This will be worth a total of 11.50 – costing 10.00 per box.
It is available for collection only every Friday 12 – 5pm
Related posts:
Sowing for Spring 2011
2011 growing season was officially launched today with our first bed of tunnel potatoes sown – first earlies, Orla. It’s always a great feeling to have the first potato bed in the ground. And so off we go again for the year…
Together with the autumn sown seed we now have a few crops underway – garlic, beetroot, onions and broad beans are also coming on well from October sowing. It’s a help to feel at least a part of our Spring work is underway.
Plenty still ahead of course… the first of the spring salads and spinach will be sown in the morning and put onto the heated cables to germinate for March planting.
Related posts:
Parsnip & Pancetta Tagliatelle with Parmesan & Butter
Parsnip & Pancetta Tagliatelle with Parmesan & Butter
Thanks to Kathy for this recipe – it is a great combination of sweet parsnip with salty parmesan and bacon, and is a very child friendly supper.
12 slices of pancetta of dry cured streaky bacon (smoked optional)
1 handful fresh rosemary
4 good knobs of butter
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
2 parsnips, peeled, halved and finely sliced lengthways
450g/1lb dried tagliatelle
3 good handfuls of grated parmesan
Sea salt & grated pepper
In a large, non-stick frying pan fry the pancetta/bacon and herbs in half of
the butter for 2 minutes, then add the garlic and parsnips. Cook for a
further 3 minutes on medium heat, until pancetta is slightly golden and the
parsnips have softened nicely.
Cool pasta, drain, reserving a little of the cooking water. Mix the pasta
with the parsnips and pancetta and stir in the rest of your butter and the
Parmesan. Adding a little of the cooking water to loosen the mixture and
make it creamy and shiny Season to taste.
Related posts:
Parsnip & Pancetta Tagliatelle with Parmesan & Butter
Parsnip & Pancetta Tagliatelle with Parmesan & Butter
12 slices of pancetta of dry cured streaky bacon (smoked optional)
1 handful fresh rosemary
4 good knobs of butter
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
2 parsnips, peeled, halved and finely sliced lengthways
450g/1lb dried tagliatelle
3 good handfuls of grated parmesan
Sea salt & grated pepper
In a large, non-stick frying pan fry the pancetta/bacon and herbs in half of
the butter for 2 minutes, then add the garlic and parsnips. Cook for a
further 3 minutes on medium heat, until pancetta is slightly golden and the
parsnips have softened nicely.
Cool pasta, drain, reserving a little of the cooking water. Mix the pasta
with the parsnips and pancetta and stir in the rest of your butter and the
Parmesan. Adding a little of the cooking water to loosen the mixture and
make it creamy and shiny Season to taste.
Related posts:
Recipe index – season by season
At this time of year it can seem that the range of Irish produce is limited by comparison with the endless possibilities of mid summer, but there are loads of varied and really tasty recipes using winter produce. It just requires a bit of thought to break out the habits that we can fall into when we think of a particular ingredient and how it can be used.
With this in mind I am working on an index of recipes that I have come across in various books and from customers and friends that use ingredients in season in Ireland during that season. I will break it into each of the four seasons and hope to add to the index as I find new ideas over the year. You can see the index under it’s own heading on the website subject list.
Please send on any ideas that you would like included. Some of the recipes are already detailed on the website – if you see a recipe that you would like, but I haven’t yet added the detailed instructions please feel free to contact me – it will prompt me to type up the full recipe!
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Ithaca pie
Ithaca Pie
This recipe was given to me by one of our customers – thank you Kathy! I have made a smaller version of this, using ready made puff pastry and making it into a roll. It worked out very well and was delicious. Ideal to serve sliced for parties, with a side salad.
1 cup = 8 oz
Adapted from In Season by Sarah Raven
Serves 12-15 (as a main course)
This recipe is for 12-15 people. You can halve it and make the pie in a standard 9″ x 13″ pan. If you do this, check the pie at 30-45 minutes.)
Ingredients:
For the crust:
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 eggs, beaten
Ice-cold water
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)
For the filling:
2 pounds spinach, chard, kale (one, or a mixture of all, of these greens)
Large bunch of dill, finely chopped
4 tablespoons chopped mint
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup olive oil
4 scallions, finely chopped
2 leeks, finely chopped
1/2 cup long-grain rice (or brown rice or bulgur)
6 ounces feta (optional)
Salt and pepper
Procedure:
1. Sift the flour with the salt and rub in the butter or pulse in a food processor until it has the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add enough beaten eggs and ice water to bring the dough together in a ball. Wrap in plastic and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (can be done a day in advance).
2. Remove the tough stalks from the spinach, chard, and kale. Coarsely chop the leaves and mix with the finely chopped herbs. Saute the onion and garlic in a little oil in a large pan until tender. And add all the greens, including the scallions and leeks. Mix well with most of the remaining oil. Incorporate the uncooked rice (or bulgur) and take off the heat. Season well with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Divide the dough in two (one piece slightly larger than the other) and allow it to warm up for a minute or so. Roll out the dough–on a floured surface–as thinly as you possibly can.
4. Roll the larger piece around a rolling pin and transfer it to the base of your baking pan. Make sure that there is some pastry hanging over the side of the pan.
5. Add the filling and crumble the feta over it (if using). Cover with the other layer of dough. Crimp the two layers together by brushing with a little water and pinching around the edge.
6. Brush a little oil over the top and scatter with sesame seeds (if using). Prick the surface with a knife. Bake the pie in the preheated oven for just over an hour, until the top crust is golden brown.
This is delicious once it has cooled a little and is perhaps even better eaten cold the next day. It’s also excellent for feeding lots of people at a picnic.
A note on cutting chard. When cooking chard, you want to be able to enjoy both the leaves and stem, however, the problem can be that they cook at different rates. Instead of winding up with perfectly cooked leaves and undercooked stems, or well-cooked stems and over-cooked leaves, try separating them so they can both be cooked properly.
First, remove the leaves from the stem:
Then, stack all the leaves on top of each other and roll them up:
Next, cut through the roll so that you wind up with thinly shredded pieces
Lastly, dice up your stems as you would celery:
When you go to cook the chard, cook the stems first. Once they are almost done, add the leaves and cook until tender. This way, both parts will be cooked perfectly.
After sauteing the filling, you roll out the dough, assemble the pie, and bake.
The result is a deliciously flaky crust, chock full of chard (or whatever other greens you may decide to use), accented by pungent dill and salty feta.
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christmas hamper close date
Thank you to all our veg box customers who have signed up to pay by standing order. It makes our planning easier to know that we have confirmed regular orders. We will make sure that there are tasty goodies in your hampers at year’s end!
We have taken on our maximum number of new standing order customers for this season, so it will be Spring 2011 before we will be able to sign up new customers for this offer. We need some time to plan next year’s crops, quantities and new projects.
In the meantime, if you would like to order a veg box please contact Elaine (087 6187908) – we can still offer weekly boxes and casual orders, depending on week to week availability of produce.
Related posts:
Autumn opening/new box options
Autumn news 2010
at
Good & Green
The summer has passed us by in a blur of hoeing and sowing (and not enough weeding!)… Our new tunnel has transformed the garden and is going strong, with weekly crops of tomatoes, cucumbers, french beans etc. Sweetcorn and chillis are on the way in Autumn. Outdoors there are now a choice of cabbage (red, savoy or round), kale, leeks, celeriac, celery, beetroot, red and white onions and some new peas, and of course pumpkins will be ready for Halloween. Our new hens have settled in well and there is a steady supply of eggs, so, all in all we are delighted with the produce this year and with the steady growth in visitors calling in to us every weekend.
We very much appreciate the effort our customers have made to make time to call for produce and hope that you have enjoyed watching the crops grow and come to harvest since Spring. It is great to be able to share the excitement of following the progress of the garden and to show our customers how and where each crop grows.
We have loads of work to do for the autumn and winter and lots of ideas that we would like to try for next season to meet requests made by our customers. At the moment we are sowing winter salads, rocket and greens (spinach, orientals etc) and will get these crops into the tunnel by end of September to have fresh greens and herbs throughout the cold months.
There are some new options and opening times for the Autumn and Winter as follows:
We are restarting our free delivery service within 5 miles of the smallholding on orders of 20 euro or over. Delivery will be on Friday afternoon and evening between 4 and 7pm.
To order a veg box there are a few options:
a. Send a tailor made order from the list of produce posted on the website every Wed night – email or text to me by Thursday evening for delivery on Friday or collection from the farm as you prefer. No minimum for orders collected from us. 20 euro minimum for free delivery.
b. Growers choice – this has been a popular option where we select the contents of the box from our available produce to an agreed total (min 15 euro for collection or min 20 euro for free delivery). We vary this from week to week, but always include a mix of root veg, leaves, herbs and fruit. You can specify items that you like a lot or don’t use/need. In addition we add 15% free extra produce (eg. 23 euro in a 20 euro box).
c. Regular standing order – We are offering a special deal to customers who know that they like and use our produce regularly and are willing to commit to a fixed amount standing order payment to our bank account. In this case we will add 15% extra produce as usual, free delivery to your house. In addition we will give you a free hamper at Christmas (including seasonal treats, bread, home reared pork/bacon and apple juice) as a thank you for your commitment through the year. With this type of box order you can use any credits built up if you are away to get extra produce at other times (eg for plants, extra veg).
If you are interested in getting a regular veg box – either delivered or for collection from us please complete the attached form and return to Elaine. Delivery from Friday 3rd Sept. Occasional orders also welcome for delivery, although priority will go to weekly customers for any limited produce.
Our opening hours for drop in customers will change from Sept 3rd:
* We will open for drop in customers on Fridays 12 – 5pm as usual.
* On Saturdays we will harvest for any preorders only. If you would like to order produce on Saturday please email/text or ring with the details 24 hours ahead.
Many thanks again to our customers who have supported our work. We look forward to growing again for you in the coming season.
Kind regards,
Elaine, John, Cathal, Oisin, Ryan and Fionn
Related posts:
Our produce in The Wooden Spoon
Our produce is now available in Killaloe all week. We are supplying salad, cut herbs and plants to ‘The Wooden Spoon’ – gourmet store, coffee shop and cookery school on Convent Hill, Killaloe.
The Wooden Spoon is owned and run by Laura Kilkenny and offers many mouthwatering treat (our herbs aside…) – raspberry and chocolate brownies are the number 1 choice in our house… but there is also a lovely range of homemade breads, delicious salads, soups, chutneys, cakes and the best coffee in the area. With the comfy sofa and relaxed atmosphere I am always tempted to settle in when I deliver on Mondays and Thursdays – except for the days work waiting for me back in the garden!
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Roasted radishes
from ‘The great big veg challenge – how to get your children eating vegetables happily’ by Charlotte Hume
This is a great book, geared towards using every veg from a-z in a child friendly way. Really nice recipes that give regular veg a twist.
A different look at radishes – roasting them softens their heat and brings out a gentler and sweeter flavour. Serves as a side dish:
750g radishes, halved
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
2-3 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp mild chilli powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
pinch sea salt
Preheat the oven to 190c.
Place the radish halves in a deep baking tray.
Add the whole cloves of garlic, then cover in the sesame oil, chilli powder and smoked paprika. Add a pinch of salt.
Stir well to make sure they are coated in the oil and seasonings.
Roast in the oven for 30mins.
Halfway through, stir them round to make sure they are evenly cooked. Serve hot.
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